


never going down by your hand

by MythologicalHoe



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Medieval, Angst with a Happy Ending, Awkward Ben Solo, Ben Solo Has Issues, Blood Magic, Dragons, Eventual Romance, Eventual Smut, F/M, Fae & Fairies, Friends to Enemies to Lovers, Ghosts, Hugs, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Knights - Freeform, Kylo Ren Redemption, Magic, Mutual Pining, Necromancy, Non-Linear Narrative, Not Actually Unrequited Love, Requited Unrequited Love, Rewrite, Sassy, Shameful Masturbation?, Sleepy Cuddles, Soft Ben Solo, Witches, why is that not a tag
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-25
Updated: 2019-10-31
Packaged: 2021-01-03 04:07:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,995
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21173165
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MythologicalHoe/pseuds/MythologicalHoe
Summary: In a world of kingdoms and political sabotage and witch hunts, Rey is the blacksmith that works for all five Kingdoms, and just so happens to be a witch in hiding. Kylo, formerly Ben, comes to her wanting a witch hunting sword, and Rey obliges.





	1. ashen

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Smol_Stressed_Bunny](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Smol_Stressed_Bunny/gifts).

> This is a rewrite of a fic I wanted to finish but wasn't getting in the jam of, anyway, I hope you like

Rey was used to the taste of destruction. Thick black smoke plumed from the buildings in the lower village. Another attack from the First Order. Rey wished that she could say that she wasn’t scared, but she felt like she was choking and her head was about to explode. 

It wasn’t safe for her here, with the Knights of Ren razing the lower villages and leaving only blood in her wake. 

She had to leave. 

Now. 

__

Snow and ice were things not often seen in the Kingdom of the Resistance. There it was a mix of desert and rocky plateaus, and children forbade from going into the thick forest that peppered the horizon, even though the beauty of the trees called with a tempting song of beauty. 

Rey was not in the Kingdom of the Resistance anymore. She had to remind herself of that daily. She was in the Neutral Zone, a vastly different place than the Kingdom that she grew up in. 

The Neutral Zone ran through Five Kingdoms that were often at odds, like the sharp spike of a spinning wheel. A child would think it vast and overwhelming, the switch from quaint and warm merchant shops to ugly and awful factories and mills jarring and the weather was awful as well. 

Rey spent a year starving. 

No one wanted to hire a skinny orphan girl with no meat on her bones. 

And then, she met him. The man who would give her mercy. 

He was an older man, but he was well dressed and his eyes were kind, if not serious. He handed her a loaf of bread, and she accepted it with the cold and trembling hands of a child. “T-thank you,” Her teeth chattered as she accepted a fresh loaf that warmed her hands gracefully. 

“Where are your parents?” The older man asked. 

“I haven’t got any,” 

“And you are not in the orphanage?” 

  
  


“By choice,” He nodded and said, “you look like Kenobi’s grandkid.” 

Her eyes widened. How did he know that? She had never seen him before. “You know my grandfather,” 

“Aye, I was the one that got you when your mother and father died.” 

“Oh,” 

“We used to be great friends, time has unfortunately let us fall apart. Where is he? I know he would not let you freeze out this far from the Kingdom.” 

“Ser Kenobi is dead,” She bit into the loaf, not caring much for manners and trying to choke out her tears. 

“I am so sorry, child.” He took a deep breath in. “Do you need a bed? I know a loving couple that would care for you well. They too own a forge,” 

“You don’t have to do that, Sir.” 

“My name is Luke,” He held his hand out for her, “and I insist.” 

__

Rey felt that there was something in the air today. She got her answer when Kylo Ren nearly broke the door off when Kylo Ren broke the door off its hinges as he entered her shop. 

“How are you doing?” She asked him. He didn’t answer her.

Rey was the royal blacksmith for the Corellian Kingdoms, which often left her busy with her work, but her most frequent client was Kylo. Despite the fact that they had a mutual hatred for each other, he kept coming back, and paying more money for weapons from her. She decided that it was because of superstition. Her swords eveningwon him wars and battles and duels, so she was the only blacksmith that he would seek out his weapons from. “I need a sword,”

“Nice to see you too,” She muttered. She was cleaning up, putting her work on display for her clients that came in and out. She was meticulous in her cleaning, making sure that she put on her best presenting weapons for the royalty that walked in and out. “What kind of sword are you looking for?”

She and Kylo had this same discussion every single time. This time, his request was different. “One that kills witches,” He said. Rey’s stomach felt sick when he said that, but she kept a straight face for the most part.

“Right,” She said.

“You can do that, right?” The question was, did Rey want to do that. The Corellian Kingdoms had been prosecuting witches for ages, and Rey was tired, so tired in aiding in the deaths of innocents.

“I can.” She bit her lip. “That's quite easy, may I ask why? And who you're planning to kill.”

“You've never asked before,”

“I'm trying to gauge what ingredients I need,” She rolled her eyes, heading over to the counter where a bound book of parchment lay. She grabbed her quill and looked up at him. “Do tell.”

“There’s a suspected witch in the lower kingdom. I just need something that’ll kill her.” Rey rolled her eyes, that wasn’t specific at all. “Necromancer type, perhaps works with poisons and healing as well.” Was all he added. That was something that could actually help her. She wrote down a few things in her book and put her quill down.

“I can start working tonight,” She said, “three hundred fifty pieces up front.” He nodded and shuffled through his satchel until he took out a red velvet bag. Rey took it from him.

“Aren’t you going to count it?” He asked. Rey rolled her eyes and put it in her pocket.

“Even if you were going to scam me, I couldn’t do anything about it. You’re a prince. I’ll take what I can get. You’ll get your weapon in two weeks time. Are you going to be in town for that long?” Kylo nodded. “Great. You can pay the rest then,” She waited for him to get out of the shop, but he lingered. Rey hated it. She knew that she couldn’t just tell him to go, but the energy around him just made Rey feel like she was going to suffocate. “Do you need anything else?” She asked tersely.

He took that hint. “No,” He said, “I’ll see you around.” Rey didn’t answer, he just looked out the door.

__

When Luke offered to take her to people that would want her, Rey thought as they walked down the street together, perhaps she had been a little too eager to get out of the cold. She did not know this man after all. Her worries would be put to rest a few moments later when she was taken to a warm looking cottage that smelled of apple and cinnamon. 

“The people here — Cassian and Jyn — they’ve never had a child. Although they’ve always wanted one.” 

He knocked on the door three times. A moment later, a woman just a tad bit younger than him answered the door. “Luke, how great to see you!” 

“You too,” They exchanged a hug and then Jyn’s focus turned to her. 

“Who is this?” 

“Rey,” She spoke for herself. 

“She was a friend of mine’s. Recently orphaned, and she needs a place to stay.” Rey shivered, still out in the cold. 

“Come in, child.” Jyn said. “I just made pie.” 

__

When Kylo left Rey’s shop, he could feel some sort of guilt forming on his shoulders. Rey and Kylo’s relationship didn’t always used to be as tense as it was now. When the two of them were kids, they used to be as thick as thieves. When he was still part of the Rebellion sector of the Corellian Kingdoms. He remembered when he was little, and class didn’t matter.

Rey and Kylo used to sneak out, past the garden wall and into the Mandalorian Forest, where the leaves turned red at night and glowed amongst the night sky. Rey had a dagger that her grandfather had made her and Kylo wielded a mini crossbow at the time. They would travel deep, but not too deep to get lost, and they would pretend to go on adventures and quests and Rey would always insist on being the one to protect Kylo.

And then a disagreement happened, one that Kylo didn’t like to dwell on, one that took him away and put him in the hands of none other than Alistair Snoke. The King of the First Order and the Overseer of the fifth and final sector in the Corellian Kingdoms. With that, something happened and Rey abandoned him. Siding with the Organa and Skywalker family, and not him.

Something changed after that, and she started hating him. Even though she still worked for him, it was never the same, and he knew that it could never go back to that. He wished that he could find a way to remedy it. Every time that Kylo tried to remedy that, he couldn’t. He just fought back with as much bitterness as she. 

__

The first night that Rey had a new home in the Neutral Zone, she was so scared to do something wrong that she barely even ate anything. She was then redirected to the fireplace where Cassian placed two warm and fuzzy blankets on top of her. “You’re safe now,” He said. “We have a room that you can sleep in, but if you rather warm up out here for the night, then I shall get you a pillow so you can sleep out here.” 

“That would be nice,” Rey said. She wasn’t sure if she would be able to sleep in a bed right now. Not when she still thought of the hurry in which she had fled the Kingdom of the Resistance, the bed she left and how she thought that after what she had done, she would not deserve a bed again. She would sleep on the arm chair for the night, and the next, and then Jyn had insisted that she go to her bed. 

There she was loved. 

There she learned things that would keep her alive later in life. 

**__**

Rey's work was the one thing that she took her most pride in, and also the excuse that she gave herself for not getting out and socializing more. When Rey grew older and her grandfather died, she retreated more and more into her shell. It wasn't like she really had anyone to help her through those difficult times anyway.

Now, she had friends, but she barely ever saw them due to her own habits. Finn was the one person she saw the most, he worked as a servant for the First Order and came to Rey’s shop frequently for chainmail and armour. He also liked to help out when he was in town, and he was in town today. “Rey!” He came into the room with an energy that was unrivalled by anyone else. Rey smiled immediately when she saw him.

“Finn.” Her whole body hurt from bending over her table going over preliminary sketches for the sword that had been requested of her. She got up from her table and gave him a hug as soon as he passed the threshold. It was so cold outside but he felt warm. Rey loved that about him. “How are you? Long time, no see.”

“I’m good. I’m good.” He said. “The Prince was in town and he has his entourage following him and I managed to sneak on the team this time. I just really wanted to see you.”

“You’re so sweet,” Rey told him, “you didn’t have to do that.”

“Oh but I did,” Rey pulled away from him, “if I had to be around him one more time I would be burnt at the stake for attempted murder.” Attempted murder. That’s right. Kylo Ren was a skilled swordsman. Anyone who went up against him died, partially due to the fact that Rey had studied his sparring methods and knew how to make weapons that would fit him the best. “How are you doing?”

“I’m doing,” Rey rolled her eyes. “The cold is starting to get to me.”

“Did Kylo stop by?”

“Yeah,” Rey didn’t like talking about him.

“How did he treat you?”

“How does Kylo normally treat people?” She rolled her eyes. Finn had to agree with that, and after that he dropped it. The two of them talked for what seemed to be the longest time. Rey cleaned up around shop to distract herself and keep busy and Finn helped. Time passed by fast like that. When the sun started to go down Finn left, and Rey waved and said goodbye to him, pretending she wouldn't miss his company. Oh well, she told herself, at least I have something to keep me busy.

Rey got back to the sword that evening.


	2. glowing trees

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kylo Ren misses Rey.

Kylo’s dreams were often plagued by nightmares, it was something that he had gotten used to at this point. He got up, late at night, and decided to venture out. The streets were aglow with icicles that glowed a blue color and the air felt fresh. This was the best time to be out for him. There was no one else around and he could just think without anything distracting him. He would stop by Rey’s forge and stare through the window. 

The light was often still on, signifying that she was still there.  _ Didn’t the girl ever sleep?  _ He shook his head, wishing that he could just work up the courage to go up the snow covered steps to the ornately decorated storefront and knock on the door, to see if she was okay.

Instead, Kylo would stand there and let him be filled with a bittersweet nostalgia. 

He remembered that in the summer, Rey would sneak out in the middle of the night and make her way into Ben’s room. Something he had always thought was damn near impossible. She would touch Ben on the shoulder to wake him up. “What are you doing here?” He would always ask, but he was always grateful that she was there. She always seemed to appear right after a nightmare hit. She always made it better.

“We need to go out,” Rey would say. “Right now.” As a kid, Rey was rebellious and liked by everyone. Even the royalty, Han and Leia adored her, and Ben did too.

“Where are we going?” Ben would ask. He would always be afraid that they might get in trouble, his hands would shake and he would stutter out of the anxiety only a child could have, but Rey would reassure him that it would be fine and they would sneak out through the winding halls that were lit with light purple hues. Rey would push Ben out past the guards and no one would seem to notice.

The two of them would hold hands and things would be nice. “Do you really want to go out into the forest?” Ben would ask her. Rey would just nod and insist that he was being a scaredy cat and that the Mandalorian forest was the least scary place that she had ever been.

The forest was always aglow, the red leaves seemed to glow a little bit brighter as you stepped under it, illuminating your path. For some reason, the red and orange hues of the forest seemed to be a place that Rey came even more alive than she was during the day, which Ben thought was impossible. She had so much energy that it practically infected everything else, and he was forced to smile.

They would pretend to slay daemons and dragons in the hills, but when Ben got to the topic of slaying witches, Rey would get oddly silent and decide that she didn’t want to play anymore. Ben would ask her what it was that he did wrong, and what he could do to remedy it, but she would never answer him. Instead she would go deeper into the forest, always finding a new lake that wasn’t lit by the leaves of the Mandalore trees and look out at the deep.

Ben would ask her if she wanted to go home and the both of them did. Ben would be plagued with wondering what he did wrong for the rest of the night though.

__

Rey’s shop was still open, Kylo could see the sign, and even though he knew that Rey wouldn’t want to see him he went there. She wasn’t in the main part of the shop, so Kylo could only assume that she was working in the back. He could smell a mix of pastries and iron and sage as he entered the shop. He stood there, wondering what she was doing but not daring to walk in the back. Rey came out into the main part of the shop a minute later. “Oh, it’s you.”

“Don’t sound so excited,” Kylo said.

“Is there anything else that you need?” Rey asked. She looked tired, more so than she usually was. Her voice hitched a little when she tried to finish the sentence. 

“Are you okay?” He asked. Rey didn’t answer that question.

“Are you here to buy something?” She asked.

“Do you have any armour?”

“Chainmail or protective plates?”

“Chainmail,”

“I have some shirts your size,” Rey said.

“How many?”

“Two,”

“I’ll take them both,” He said.

“That’s one hundred pieces,” Rey told him. He nodded and grabbed his satchel again. He had some bank notes on him and wrote one for one hundred pieces.

“You know, you should really sell your things for higher. They’re high quality.”

“One hundred pieces might not be a lot to you, but it is a lot to me. Not everyone can live in a castle and have a life of luxury.”

“I didn’t mean it that way,” He said.

“Just give me the money,” Rey rolled her eyes. Kylo mentally kicked himself as he wrote out the bank note and gave it to her. Rey took the chainmail shirts out from the back and gave them to Kylo. “Thank you,” That was code for get the fuck out, he knew that tone all too well. He left without saying anything.

The next day he came back to ask on the progress of the sword, Rey told him that these things take time. “It’s imperative to the Order that I find this witch,” He said.

“I don’t really care,” Rey shrugged. “These things take time, and if you want a good sword that can actually kill the witch that you’re looking for, you will wait and be patient like a grown man.” Only Rey  was the type of person that could get away with talking to Kylo like that.

“Is there a specific reason that you’re giving me attitude?” He asked. 

“Is there a specific reason why you can’t wait for me to do my job and make you a sword?” She countered. 

“Fine,” He said, his jaw setting. God, why did they have to fight all of the time? “you’re right.”

“Good.” Rey said. “You’re not a complete idiot. Your sword will be ready by the end of the week and I need two hundred and fifty pieces as the second half of your payment.” He nodded, not really knowing what else to say and left. God, Rey really hated him. He couldn’t blame her, as he didn’t really give her a reason to like him in the first place, but he didn’t really know how to bond again.

Kylo watched as other people filed into Rey’s shop as the day began, and he wished, he wished that he could just hit the reset button with her and try again, but knowing his track record he would just mess up again. He always messed up.

__

At the end of the week, Rey had made the sword that Kylo had needed, one that burned her skin when she touched it. At least she knew that it worked. “Motherfucker,” She cried. She pressed the point into her finger, it was sharp enough to draw blood, but the burning subsided on her after a minute of her enduring it. Her own magic would not kill her after all. 

She put it down on the table and waited for the night to approach, knowing that Kylo would be coming.

Kylo appeared, fur cloak tightened around him. “Your sword is ready.” Kylo dropped the money on the table and picked up the sword. His eyes lit up for a second as he backed up a little, swinging it around. “I trust you like the product I’ve given you.”

“It’s perfect.” Rey provided him with a sheath as well. “Intricate detail work as always.”

“Thank you,” Rey said. Kylo sheathed the sword and looked down at her hand, which was wrapped up in a bandage.

“Are you okay?”

“It doesn’t matter, Kylo.” Rey sighed.

“What happened there?”

“The molten iron popped and some of it burned through my glove and got on my skin.” She lied. She was so used to lying at this point that she had gotten used to it.

“Okay,” He said, “well take care of yourself.” Rey didn’t know how to respond to that. “I’ll see you later Rey.” She nodded and took the money off the table as he left her shop. She closed up after that. 


	3. a wrong

Rey remembered the days when she had friends. Or to more accurately represent it, had one friend. Ben Solo was her friend, even though they shared different classes. They were as thick as thieves, Rey brining Ben up in his saddest times. But now that she thought back on it, at what cost was putting all of her positive energy into a man that cut down her kind like cattle and didn’t have a second thought about it.

Now that she looked back on those memories, she regretted all the times that she looked at him in awe. When she was out in the court with her grandfather, she would look at him on his throne next to his mother and father. He was swathed in light and looked like an angel as a kid, someone who would grow up to be a leader like no other. Rey used to think that was exactly what he would be.

And then something happened to him. She wasn’t sure what exactly it was. Maybe it was just the fact that he grew up, but the older he got the more consumed with this hatred of witches he got, and Rey couldn’t deal with it anymore. She couldn’t admit to herself the boy that she loved so much would hate her if he knew who she really was.

__

Ben Kenobi was accused of being a witch, he was one, and Rey knew it. That didn’t keep her from marching into the throne room to try and help her grandfather. She was twelve then, and Ben Solo was starting to become something that he hadn’t been before. “How dare you!” She ran into the throne room when no one else but Leia, Ben, and Han were in there. She had tears in her eyes and her blood was roaring. “All my grandfather ever did was help this Kingdom and you throw him in jail over some accusations.”

“Rey,” Leia was compassionate, and kind. She tried to deal with Rey in that sort of manner. “This is for your own safety. I know that he’s your only family but we will still let you live at the castle.” Rey felt sick to her stomach when she said that. They really were going to kill him.

__

Who was Rey, really? She wasn’t sure that she knew who she was, and that was alarming to her. She spent all day in her shop, making things that killed her own kind. She distanced herself from the community of magic and was known as the bringer of Death by most. Here they wouldn’t know that. Kylo came into her shop that afternoon to see her sitting in a chair fiddling around with some needles and yarn. “I didn’t know that you knitted,” He furrowed his eyebrows together like he was frustrated that she didn’t tell him this information.

“It’s really none of your business what I do or don’t do.” She sighed. “What is it that you want?” She didn’t get up from her chair or make any attempt to even so much as look at him. She could tell from the tone of his voice that this sort of insulted him.

“I wanted to thank you for the sword, it’s fine work.”

“Did you find the witch that you were looking for?” Rey asked him.

“No, it’s going to take a while to find them. But I trust that when I find them this will do the job.” Rey rolled her eyes, focused more on her stitchwork and less on the man in front of her.

“Okay, so why are you still here?”

“I wanted to ask you some questions,”

“I thought that we’ve already established the fact that I’m not a witch and you really need to stop trying to pin that shit on me.” Kylo shook his head.

“I just wanted to ask you why you’re so sensitive about my work?” That would be an odd way to phrase killing people by any means, and it was no different with Kylo Ren. Rey finished the row she was on and sat it down in her lap. Her eyes finally connecting with the man that used to be her best friend.

“I am not much for killing.” She said. “Especially people that haven’t done anything to hurt me.” 

“Rey, the person I am chasing is a necromancer. Necromancers do much worse than kill, things that are dead should stay dead. And magic corrupts —” 

“I didn’t want a lecture today, Ren.” She said. “And I did not mean the necromancer specifically. I know about the others that you have killed with my weapons. And I do not wish to talk about it with you, but let me tell you, I know exactly what kind of man you are, and the part of me that remembers you as a child is still sensitive to the fact that something went so wrong in you to make you kill innocents for a cause that you think it just.”

__

“I’m a witch,” She told Jyn and Cassian at the dinner table one night. Her cheeks were salty from tears. She had been living with them from the age of fourteen to the age of sixteen, helping them with the Forge in every way that she could to make sure that they never thought of her as a burden. Both of her gracious hosts stared at her for a moment, before Cassian spoke softly to her. 

“We know,” 

“You know?” 

“Luke told us about Kenobi’s being born with magic, a rare thing, you are. But we don’t care that you have magic. You can stay with us as long as you need, and we will love for who you are forever and always. You must know that.” 

__

“I think we need to talk,” Kylo said as Rey was about to open her shop. She nearly jumped out of her skin and then stared him down. 

“What on Earth? Why the hell would we need to talk about anything!” 

“I—” 

“I don’t talk to you unless you’re buying something, you know that.” If she was the only one to cause hurt in this relationship, perhaps she would have been nicer to him. 

“I only want to apologize for snapping at you, yesterday. It was not in my attention to offend you. I’m just getting tired of not knowing how to try and get you to forgive me.” Rey closed her eyes for a second and took a deep breath of the freezing air in. 

“Apology accepted, you may leave.” She opened her store. 

She closed the door before he could get another word in.

__

Rey looked to Ben, pleading for him to reason with his parents. He said nothing. He just stared at her with this apathetic look on her eyes. “He’s all that I have, I don’t have parents, I don’t have friends. His shop and him, that’s all that my life has been. If you’re the generous and loving royal family that you claim to be then please just set him free. We’ll leave and we’ll never come back to the Five Kingdoms. Please, please.” She was sobbing now, and Leia and Han seemed to be reacting more to it then Ben was.

“Rey, I’m sorry but the rules are the rules. And we can’t break them for the sake of your relationship with our son even though we are grateful.”

“Why should we break them anyways? Even with that excuse.” Rey looked up at Ben from where she was and that idolic version of the boy that she had seen in her head was gone. For the first time she really noticed the dark circles under his eyes, the fact that he seemed to be eating less and less.

“What?” She yelled.

“You of all people should know the disease that witchcraft was, that’s what killed your parents in the first place. You were born because of a love potion and it’s effects took your mother and father.”

“How dare you?” Something in her blood just switched off, and all those years of learning how to keep her temper and hide from the world were gone. The walls grew arms, and the swords that were stationed in a celebratory manner started to shake. “_ How dare you talk about my birth like that? _”

“Guards!” Han called. Leia seemed to be the only one that was calm. 

“Rey, calm down!” 

“Release my grandfather,” 

She was not given what she wanted, her blood boiled, and she screamed. Swords flew through the air, the arms of some celestial beings threatened to break through the walls. The ear splitting screech that Rey let rip through her body and out into the world. Ben was the first to crumple to the floor as a result of her magic. Then the bells to let the Kingdom know that the lower village was under attack rang through the throne room.

__

"Could you explain more to me, your point of view? Because I don't think that I agree with it right now," Rey sighed because she had just wanted him to go away so she could open up shop. “To me,” Rey said, “people aren’t inherently bad, and concepts aren’t inherently bad. For example, you would think that a fire raging through the woods would be a bad thing but, after that fire has been put out, greener, lush life grows back in its place and the cycle of life continues. So that fire isn’t inherently bad.” Kylo just stared at her, his eyes blank. She wasn’t sure that she had gotten to him in that moment. Until he went to speak and then paused.

“We should go on a picnic when the ice clears,” He said.

“Why should we do that?”

“Because,” He told her, “we should reconnect.”

"Why in the hell would you want to do that?" 

"Why wouldn't I?" Rey looked outside, to the luminescent blue ice and pale blue mist to try and find some sort of explanation as to why he should stay as far away from her as possible. All she ended up doing was feeling more lonely than she had before.

"Fine," She said, "we could reconnect."

__

One of the swords had cut Ben clear across the face, his flesh was jagged and torn and Rey was crying. She didn’t mean to do that, she really didn’t mean to do that. Something inside her just broke in that moment. That didn’t excuse what she did next.

She wiped all of their memories, planted fake explanations for everything there. She went to her grandfather’s cell to break him out that night, but when she got there he was already dead.


	4. The Picnic

The first time that Kylo Ren had walked into Rey’s store, he hadn’t known that she was the one that had been running it. It used to belong to Jyn and Cassian Andor, a nice couple who had been loyal to every Kingdom that had ever asked it for aid. They weren’t there, though, and instead a young girl with hair tied up in three buns was dealing with a customer herself. Once she was done, she noticed him and waited for the other customer to leave before she said, “The gall you have, showing your face here.” He steeled himself, remembering the last time they had spoken. Ben had encouraged his parents to put Rey’s only caretaker to death. The memories around that time were fuzzy, but the heartbreak in her voice as she stared up at him was clear. 

“I’m on official First Order business, I can take my money elsewhere if need be.” 

“There will be no need,” Rey rolled her eyes, “what do you want?” 

_ 

The picnic’s date was coming soon, and Rey wasn’t sure if she wanted to continue on with it or not. However Rey wasn’t one for backing out of stuff, so she got ready. She brought a few sweets and some sandwiches, knowing that the day where she and Kylo would have to spend time with each other was coming up soon. She tried to see the best of the situation, she hadn’t been out in a while to relax and get out in nature, so she had that to look forward to.

_ 

“I need something that can kill lycanthrope,” She looked at him as if he had just said he needed something that could kill children. He wondered why she was so adamant to be mad at him. Everything that had happened had happened a long time ago. “What?” 

“Why do you want to kill a lycanthrope? They haven’t been seen in the main kingdom for years,” 

“I can hardly see why that’s any of your business.” 

_

Kylo was actually happy. He hadn’t been happy in a while, so it felt kind of odd the more he thought about it. But he tried not to dwell on it to the best of his abilities. He instead played out scenarios of making up with Rey in his head, and while no route was particularly easy, all of them ended up being worthwhile.

The day of their picnic had come along and Kylo came to meet Rey at the door of her shop. He was in a regular shirt and black pants, and Rey looked like she had been caught off guard. Kylo reckoned that it had been awhile since he had been dressed casually in front of her. That was his fault. He only ever saw her when he needed something. “Hello,” She tried very hard not to sound so tense but she didn’t think it was working. “Let me close up shop,”

He waited patiently for her to do so, “Can I carry your basket?” He asked her when she locked the door.

“I can carry it very well by myself,” She told him. He made a face but didn’t say anything or push her any further. The two of them walked a little bit, he let Rey lead the way. She knew the ins and outs of the Neutral Zone far better than he could ever. She brought him to a secluded meadow next to a creek that’s water was rushing. “I think that here would do nicely,” She said.

Kylo had brought the blanket. He set it down and let her spread out the food that she had brought. The first five minutes between the two just eating and not really looking at each other were the most intense five minutes that Kylo had experienced in a while. He tried his best to break the ice. “So,” He said, “do you still draw?”

Rey looked up at him. He wasn’t sure if he saw anger, annoyance, or sadness on her face. “I stopped drawing after my grandfather died.” She told him. “I do schematics for weapons but I don’t think that that really counts at all.” Kylo nodded.

“Sorry, uh… I didn’t mean to—”

“It’s okay,” Rey rolled her eyes. “It’s not like you would’ve known. You never asked and I never told you. But why don’t we focus on the future, why don’t we? You’re hunting a witch. Have you progressed any in your journey to kill them?”

“Not really.” He said. “Just interviewing people, trying to see if anyone’s found anything peculiar. But I know that you don’t really like that subject so why don’t we stick to anyone else. Is there anything else you’ve done outside of—”

“The forge is my life and I dedicate myself to it wholly,” Rey shrugged, “I don’t get out much,” She looked up at the sun that was starting to peek through pinkish clouds. Kylo wanted to ask her what happened to her. Rey used to be the most daring and adventurous person that he knew. She was the reason that he had tried to grow up better, to not cry when he heard voices in his head. He didn’t ask her that though because he knew that she wouldn’t react too well to it.

The two of them were silent for a long time before he finally just told her, “I missed you.” She looked at him, sandwich almost to her mouth. She set it down.

-

“Right,” She said, “that is none of my business. Nonetheless, you are the one that asked me for a weapon, were you not? So you better give me a good reason as to why you’re hunting one down.” He was unable to give her one. 

“Snoke ordained it.” 

“You can’t be serious?” Rey asked. “You think I care about what some old white man on a throne ordains? What is  _ your  _ reason?” 

“Why do you care—”

“Because if blood is going to be spilled because of me, you need to tell me why you need to spill it.” 

“Because if I don’t then I will get demoted from the ranks and properly punished.” Rey stared at him for a long time before his lip started to quiver. “ _ Please, Rey. Just help me this once.”  _

“You don’t deserve it,” 

“No, I don’t.” There was a long pause before Rey spoke again. 

“Would you prefer a projectile or—?” 

“What would you recommend?” 

“Something that shoots projectiles, that way it’s less likely for you to get scratched and turned. Crossbow bolts made of silver and dipped in arsenic should do the trick.” 

“I’ll take that then,” 

“Three hundred fifty bronze pieces.” 

“Really?” 

“Yes,” 

“But that’s—”

“I don’t care.” Kylo gritted his teeth and shelled out the money needed. He wished that she would just tell him what he needed to do to be her friend again, but he knew that she wasn’t going to do that. Rey was stubborn like that.  _ She will never understand you, boy.  _ Snoke’s voice echoed in his head.  _ I don’t know why your mind wanders to this peasant so much.  _ Snoke was right — like it or not — Rey was not the same as Kylo. Kylo was born royalty, he had a whole different set of problems from Rey. 

She wouldn’t get it. 

Kylo needed to forget about her, not try. From now on, their relationship would be purely business. That was all. 

_

_ I missed you,  _ Rey’s breath caught and she stared at him. “I’ve been an asshole to you.” She didn’t say anything. She thought that in this time it was best for her to stay quiet. “And I know that it’s very hard to— it would be hard to forgive me if you chose to do that but I want to get to know you again. I want to be your friend.” There was a long silence between them before he finished it off with, “I don’t want to be alone anymore.” 

“Damn it,” Rey deflated and looked away from it. “It’s really hard to stay mad at you when you do that.” She laughed nervously. “You ass,” Kylo laughed nervously too as Rey tried to think of a reason to cling onto her wariness of the knight, but it was getting harder and harder by the second. “In all seriousness,” Rey told him, “You only get one second chance, that’s it.” She could see him smiling and she was reminded of that boy that she had been friends with so long ago. Part of her wanted to cry when she saw that smile. He was the only person that was ever able to do that to Rey.

“I won’t let you down.” He told her. He looked like he was about to cry.

“Don’t do that,” Rey said.

“Do what?”

“Don’t cry,” She told him, “because then I’ll cry.”

“I’ve never seen you cry.” Yes you have, you just don’t remember it. Rey felt a little bit of guilt push in her stomach, but she tried to push that to the back of her mind. “You’re the strongest person that I have ever had the pleasure of knowing,”

“Now you’re just getting into flattery and it’s making me sick.”

“Right,” Kylo shook his head. “The food’s great by the way. You’re talented.”

“What did I say about the flattery?”

“It’s hard to break habits,”

“I guess I should compliment you,” Rey said, “because you keep complimenting me. So I guess I can say that I’m proud of you for your work ethic, and for apologizing. Apologizing is hard for me.” Admitting when she was wrong about something or someone was hard for Rey, and most importantly facing the sins of her past— she would never do that so long as she could avoid that.

“Don’t strain yourself,” Kylo said.

“And you grew up to be pretty good looking,” Rey added. That shut up him in mere seconds. “That’s what I thought,” She muttered.


End file.
